By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As COVID numbers continue to climb, it appears unlikely Bowling Green City Schools will go back to in-person learning when classes resume in the new year.
Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci sent out an email today explaining the good news and bad news as 2020 comes to a close.
The good news is that last week, Gov. Mike DeWine moved educators up on the list of people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. DeWine said he hoped vaccinating teachers and staff will help get students back in school faster. Currently, 45% of all Ohio students are fully remote and 26% of students are in a hybrid model, or partially remote.
“The governor delivered encouraging news by saying his plan is to make the vaccine available to school personnel by mid-January with the goal of having all students back face to face in school buildings by March 1,” Scruci wrote in his message to the community. “This is really good news as it is what we all want for our students.”
But the bad news is that the local COVID cases continue to grow – so it’s unlikely students will be back in their classrooms anytime soon.
“Each week we continue to monitor the numbers associated with our decision matrix and update those numbers on our district website,” Scruci wrote.
Based on recent numbers, Wood County is still in Level Red, with the current COVID incidence level at 715 per 100,000 population. The local incidence rate is 585.5 per 100,000, which is almost six times the threshold for Wood County to move back to Level Orange.
Those numbers exceed the district’s decision matrix – which is designed to tell when it would be safe for Bowling Green City Schools to go back to in-person learning. The district has not had in-school classes since the state shut down schools in March.
“We had hoped to be back in some in-person learning environment starting January 5, 2021, but as we stand today, that does not look likely based on the current data available to us,” Scruci wrote.
Scruci said he will send another email on Friday, to give an update on the district’s status for Jan. 5, when classes will reconvene.
Last week during a news conference, DeWine made his announcement that Ohio teachers and school staff including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians and clerical workers, will be in the next group of people to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
DeWine said he wants to start Covid-19 vaccinations in mid-January for school teachers and staff, and to offer them at all schools that want to continue or begin in-person learning.
